CHENNAI: The alert captain of an Air India flight to Kuwait averted a disaster at the airport here by detecting an engine snag just before takeoff and managed to halt the plane on the runway Saturday night.

There were 153 passengers on board the plane that was to land at Goa en route to Kuwait, an AI official said, adding that they have been accommodated in hotels and the flight rescheduled for yesterday.

The AI official said the plane was speeding on the runway for takeoff at around 8 pm when the captain found malfunctioning in the engine and alerted the air-traffic control (ATC). The ATC asked him to halt the flight, which he managed with some difficulty as the Airbus- 320 had picked up speed by then.

The engineers found that some parts needed replacement and they were indented from Delhi, as they were not available here. The passengers, bound for Goa and the rest booked for Kuwait were told to disembark and the plane was towed to the bay for repairs, the AI official added. — Deccan Chronicle